-Caveat Lector- "" Fully 80 percent of the heroin consumed in Europe comes via the Balkans. "" << But the KLA/UCK don't have nuthin' ta do wit this ... and don't forget it!! A<>E<>R >> > World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > WSWS : News & Analysis : Medicine & Health > > UN reports reveal global growth of drug abuse > > By Steve James > 28 August 1999 > > Back to screen version > > Two recent reports by the United Nations Drugs Control Programme > (UNDCP) provide an insight into the global spread of drug abuse. > "Global Illicit Drug Trends" was compiled from questionnaires > sent to national governments requesting information on drug > seizures by police and customs officials. "The Drug Nexus in > Africa" was drawn out of information forwarded by drug control > agencies in 10 African states. In the language of statistics, > they provide an overview of the scale and depth of drug use > internationally. The African report in particular sheds some > light on the social, economic and political origins of drug > taking. > > "Global Illicit Drug Trends" points out that the illicit drug > trade is a complex and massive global industry, with markets in > every country of the world. The growth in world commerce and the > explosion in global finance markets have made it much easier for > the drug cartels to move their money around and obscure the > source of the immense profits being made by the criminal > syndicates controlling the trade. > > Illegal drugs account for $400 billion of world trade, making it > larger than the global iron and steel industries. The 1997 "World > Drug Report" noted that there were at least 141 million drug > abusers globally, including 8 million heroin addicts, 30 million > amphetamine users and 13 million cocaine users. > > The two new reports provide more data. In 1986, world opium > production was around 2,000 tonnes. By 1994 this had trebled to > over 6,000 tonnes and in 1997 stood at 5,000 tonnes. Seizures of > heroin follow a similar pattern, with 1,000 tonnes seized in > 1984, rising to 3,000 in 1995. Ninety percent of the world's > opium is grown in Afghanistan and Burma (called Myanmar by its > military government). In 1998, 63,700 hectares were devoted to > growing opium in Afghanistan alone. New areas are continually > entering production. Iran and the central Asian republics of the > former Soviet Union contain much prime growing land. > > Many of the world's opiate addicts can be found close to these > producing areas, where half of all opium is consumed. In some > producing areas in Iran, 4 to 6 percent of the population are > opium addicts. The country has an estimated 1.2 million opiate > addicts, including 150,000 using heroin. In the producing areas > of Laos and Thailand the addiction rate is as high as 10 percent. > Fully 80 percent of the heroin consumed in Europe comes via the > Balkans. Of opium from South East Asia, up to 50 percent is sent > to China. > > In 1986, two countries reported an increase in heroin abuse, 21 > did so in 1996. While use has supposedly stabilised in Western > Europe, apart from the UK, Ireland and the Nordic states, > increases in addiction were noted in the Confederation of > Independent States, Eastern Europe and countries on the Balkan > route, as well as in the producing areas. Pakistan, where opium > use was negligible in the early 80s, now has 2 million addicts. > One million heroin addicts are registered in India, and > unofficially there are as many as five million. China now has > 540,000 registered addicts, up from 150,000 in 1991. > > In the United States and Canada, where in 1991 there were 360,000 > heroin abusers, there are now 600,000. In the UK, Ireland, > Denmark and Italy 2 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds have used > heroin. > > Worldwide, 11 percent of AIDS cases are estimated to be due to > drug users injecting with dirty needles—particularly heroin > addicts. Countries reporting a rise in injection between 1996 and > 1998 noted a 37 percent increase in HIV infection. > > Use and production of cocaine has also increased. World > production is centred on Latin America: Colombia (56 percent), > Peru (28 percent) and Bolivia (16 percent). Together, these > countries produce nearly 180,000 tonnes of coca leaf. In 1998, > eradication programmes destroyed 98,630 hectares of coca leaf > crops, up from 3,446 hectares in 1986. About 420 tonnes of coca > leaf are needed for one tonne of cocaine. Processing is done in > the countries of origin. The street price of cocaine averages > $110 a gram. Most Latin American cocaine is sent to the US, > although some reaches Europe. Six percent of American young > people have used cocaine, or its “crack” variant; in the Bahamas > it is 6.4 percent, and 4.5 percent in Kenya. Many people in the > growing areas use raw coca leaf itself, or other unrefined > products. > > In 1985, 400 laboratories were detected making drugs such as > amphetamines and ecstasy. By 1997, 1,600 labs had been found. > Most were in Western Europe and the US. Twenty percent of world > drug seizures were in Britain, 15 percent in the US, 14 percent > in Thailand and 11 percent in China. Total world seizures rose > from 600 million doses in 1987 to 1,100 million in 1997. > > The UK tops the list in the consumption of speed (amphetamine) > and ecstasy, with 3 percent of the entire population having used > them. Next highest is Spain (with 1.7 percent) and Guatemala (1.5 > percent). Some 8.3 percent of all young people in the UK have > used these drugs. Only Ireland (9 percent) tops this figure. > > By far the most ubiquitous drug is cannabis. It is estimated that > over 140 million people regularly use cannabis worldwide. Amongst > young adults, usage is far higher—37 percent in the UK for > example. Thirty-eight countries reported an increase in cannabis > use. > > Supply and usage in Africa > > > "The African Drug Nexus" shows that the increased prevalence of > drug abuse is a clear indicator of the drastic social and > psychological damage produced by deepening poverty, social > upheaval and civil war. > > The report was compiled from questionnaires sent to various drug > agencies in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, > Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Comments > from both the UNDCP and the School of Oriental and African > Studies in the University of London were also included. The > countries surveyed are amongst the poorest in the world. Ethiopia > has a per capita GDP of $450, Mozambique $810, Nigeria $1220, > Cameroon $2,110, South Africa $5,030. > > The report establishes that poor people use the most drugs. > Unemployed people make up a large proportion of cannabis users. > Of 553 drug users arrested in Ethiopia between 1993 and 1997, 50 > percent were unemployed. In all 10 countries, the urban > population has increased at a higher rate than urban employment. > Annual labour force growth averages 2.5 percent and employers are > wholly unable to absorb this. The traditional large employers in > transport and nationalised industries are being privatised and > downsized. In Senegal, 100,000 young people enter the job market > every year, but the "formal" sector can only generate 5,000 jobs > a year. Many more women are looking for work, while their > employment opportunities stagnate. > > Africa has huge youth populations—in Côte d'Ivoire more than half > the entire population is under 18—and there is a growth in the > numbers of “street children”. There are 12,000 street children in > the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, alone. Amongst street > children, qaat (a leaf that it chewed for stimulant effect), > cannabis and solvent abuse is the norm. Nairobi, the capital of > Kenya, is estimated to have 10,000 street children. Some children > support whole families by scavenging. > > Many workers use cannabis—particularly those doing demanding or > dangerous work. Staving off hunger is seen as a major attribute > of cannabis in Mozambique. Many use cannabis simply to cope with > the general social pressure, while others use drugs to dull the > impact of the horrors they have experienced. Thirty percent of > the 1.7 million refugees who returned to Mozambique after the > civil war had been tortured and 77 percent of child refugees > returning had witnessed a murder. > > As well as smoking cannabis, a bewildering array of substances > are used—from traditional cannabis infusions and hallucinogenics > administered by faith healers, to mandrax and beer mixes, petrol > and solvent inhalation, misuse of prescription medicines, and > crack cocaine. > > In Kenya, chewing qaat is culturally acceptable. It causes > insomnia, so users need other drugs like cannabis to get to > sleep. A survey of young Kenyans suggested that 63 percent > regularly used drugs. > > Qaat is also widely used in Ethiopia. Fully 82 percent of Addis > Ababa street children use some sort of drugs in a country with > just one drug rehabilitation unit. Forty-three percent of mental > patients are qaat addicts. > > In South Africa, cannabis use is widespread. The consumption of > crack cocaine has increased from zero percent of all drug use in > 1995 to 8 percent in 1996, to 35 percent in 1998. Cape Town > Counselling Centre noted that two-thirds of those seeking help > were under 30. Seventy percent of addicts started using drugs in > their teens. Causes for widespread use were listed as: absent > fathers; drug-dependent parents; deterioration of the school > system and social uncertainty. > > The many urban slum areas of poverty, tension, crime, > overcrowding and lack of privacy create a fertile environment for > the illegal drugs industry. Many turn to drug dealing and other > areas of "informal trade". The black economy is the fastest > growing area of the Ghanaian economy. Sixty percent of Senegalese > GDP is "informal", employing 700,000 people, 45 percent of whom > live in the capital city Dakar. > > South Africa is a major growing area. Isolated highland areas > accounted for as much as 80,000 acres under cannabis production > in 1987. Throughout West Africa, farmers are given seed as well > as paid to set land aside for cannabis. They are prepared to risk > prison for high yields—$520 an acre. > > The fall in the world price of basic commodities has encouraged > this shift to drug production. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's > leading cocoa bean producer. In the 1990s, cocoa accounts for 50 > percent of GDP, and 4.8 million people, 40 percent of the > population, depend on it for their livelihoods. Between 1988 and > 1992 price of cocoa fell by 50 percent: the country's credit > system collapsed, and planters' revenues fell by 60 percent. > Two-thirds of farmers interviewed said they started growing > cannabis after the cocoa price collapse. Now, 0.1 acre devoted to > cannabis can yield the same as 30 to 40 acres devoted to cocoa. > > Qaat production is now crucial to the Ethiopian economy, ranking > third after coffee. This tendency has developed in the last three > or four years. An Ethiopian newspaper warned that if the > government implemented its proposed crackdown on the trade, then > it should be prepared for major famine relief. > > "Global Illicit Drug Trends" and "The Drug Nexus in Africa", can > be downloaded from the United Nations International Drug Control > Programme web site in pdf format: http://www.undcp.org > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Copyright 1998-99 > World Socialist Web Site > All rights reserved > > A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --- Ernest Hemingway + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
